Creels



1960 J. KREUTHMEIIER 2,936,882

CREELS Filed July 24, 1958 E6. 2 MENTOR la/1n Ar'eu fhm/er ATTORNEY CREELS John Kreuthmeier, St. Paul, Minn. p Application July 24, 1958, Serial No. 750,702

7 Claims. (Cl. 206-51) This invention relates to an improvement in creels and deals particularly with a means of supporting heavy fabrics such as those made to simulate fur, 'velvet and the hke.

' For many years heavy fabrics have been supported on devices known as creels during shipment of the goods from the manufacturer to the consumer. These creels normally comprise end frames having a center portion and't-wo pairs of outwardly diverging arms extending in opposite directions from said center portions. Theseframes are held in properly spaced relation by a spacing member which is of a length substantially equal to thewidthof cloth being shipped; Each of the four outwardly diverging arms on each of the end frame members is provided with an equal number of inwardly directed hooks. These hooks on opposite ends. of the frame engageinto the marginal edge of thefabric strip to suPPf rt the fabric between the pairs ofhooks The fabric is normally attached by hooking the side edges of thefend of the strip upon two innermost books of one of the arms, next hooking the edges of the-strip on, the innermost hooks of the next adjoining arm, hooking the edges of the strip between the hooks of thenext adjoining arms, hooking the edge of'thestripbetween the innermost hooks of the fourth arm and continuing this operation by=thenhooking the edges of the strip between the se'conddnnermost hooks of the the first arm and con:

tinuing this process until the fabric is alllooped between th'e'various arms, the loops of fabric gradually increasing in size until theoutermost hooks are reached. As

the creels are relatively expensive to produce, the end frames are usually removedfrom the intermediate spacing member and laid flat against the intermediate'spacing' member and are normally returned tothe manufacturer in this disassembled form forreuse.

. While creels of this type have been used for a great number of years, very considerable time and effort is expended both in attaching the strip of fabric to .the

creel at the point of manufacture, and alsoindetach In detaching the ing the fabric from the creel for use. fabric, the strip isjdisconnectedina reversal of themanner in which is connected, starting at the outer end of the strip and disconnecting each pair of hooks while rotating the creel until his disconnected. Due to the time which-is required in disconnecting the fabric, there is a material tendency to pull -the edges of the fabric fromthe hooks tearing-the edgesfdf the fabric and cansing considerable damagetomitumwhilelthe edges of the fabric are usually trimmed ofl' -inmany instances, the tea i g of thegedgeststillhas aztendency' to injure the inner portions of the fabric and the tears make the edges more difiicult to trim. It is an object of the present invention to provide a creel which is generally similar to those previously in use but which provides a means of greatly simplifying the detachment of the fabric from the creel when it arrives at its destination, thus very materially decreasing the time and etiort'normally expended for this work. V

V 2 A feature of-the present invention resides in the provision of a creel'which may be of the same general type of creels in common use but in which the hooks are mounted upon plateshingedly connected to the arms of 5 the creel. The hook supporting plates are so arranged that the tension of the fabric between the hooks tends to hold the plates in alignment with the various'hooks engaged in the edges ofthe fabric. However, by manually pivoting these plates, a series of hooks may be simultaneously disengaged with the fabric, permitting the fabric to be removed by merely unwinding it from th reel. In creels of usual type, the hooks are normally arranged fiat and in a common plane with the pointed ends: of the hook being directed toward the outer ends of the- In the present arrangement, the ends of the hooks: are bent at right angles or formed at right angles so that:

arms.

the' planes of the hooks are parallel. This does not in any way effect-the operability of thehooks, .but permits the hooks to'be simultaneously disengaged by a simple pivotal movement of the hook supporting plates.

These and otherobjects and novel features of the present invention will be more clearly and-fully set'forth in the following specification and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of the specification:

Figure l is a perspective view of the creel in readiness foruser I Figure 2 is a diagrammatic view of an end of'the creel showing the manner in which the fabric is supported in s'ubsta'r'itiallyv concentric loops about the longitudinal center of the creel.

"Figure 3 is a perspective view of a series of hooks and 11 which are identical in form but reversed in relation to each other. Each end frame includes an elongated metal strip bent to form the general outline of an 3 hour glass. The strip includes a pair of parallel center portions 12.and'13 having outwardly diverging frame.

portions 14 and 15 connected to the upper ends thereof.

These outwardly and upwardly diverging frame portions are connected by a horizontal top connecting member 16.

The lower ends of'the intermediate portions 12 and 13 areconnected to outwardly and downwardly diverging frame portionsll. and 19 respectively which are connected by a cross connecting member 20. In view of the fact that the frames 10 and 11 are similar, the various portions thereof have-been given similar identification numerals. A

, The end frames 10 and 11 are held in properly spaced relation by a central spacing member indicated in gen- 50 eral by the numeral 21. The spacing member 21 includes alpair of parallel spacing bars 22 and 23 which are held in parallel relation by cross braces 24 and 25.

The en'ds of, the parallel bars 22 and 23 are secured be tween;the parallel end frame members 12 and131by C I f at exited May 17,1960;

possess a fers" from" the conventional structure in that the hooks:

are arranged in parallel planes at right angles to the plane of the base of the strip from' which they are punched. As indicatedin Figure 3 of the drawings, a flat strip of sheet material 27 is punched toprovidea series of hook shaped projections 29 and these hooks are twisted so that the hook ends. thereof arein substantially parallel planes at right angles to the plane of V the base portion of the strip 27.

plates are folded into the normal position illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings, the fabric B may be readily hooked over the inwardly directed hooks.

In preferred form of construction, two assembllies of the type illustrated in Figurev 3 of the drawings, are secured-in end abutting relation to each of the diverging arms mentioned. ()bviorisly, this may be varied, and if preferred three such assemblies or a greater number may be employed, or all of the hooks may be mounted upon a single hinge plate in the event all of the fabric is to be always be removed at one time. a

t will be noted from the drawings, that a rearward projection 35 may. be provided on each hinge plate extending the full width of the strap iron or similar metal forming the end frames of the creel." An 'angularly turned flange 36 is provided on the projection 35 which may engage over the outer edge of the frame strip with some resilience or tension if desired. The flange 36 provides a means of grasping the hinge plates to pivot the same to remove the fabric.

In use, the creel is set upin the form illustrated in Figure 1 and the end of the strip is'h'ooked between the innermost hooks of two parallel diverging arms. at opposite. ends of the unit. in other wordsjthe fabric may be hooked between the innermost hooks of the arm 15 of the frame '10 and the arm 14 of the'frame 11.' The fabric may then extend downwardly and hook over the innermost hooks on the arm 19 of the frame 16 and the arm 17 of the frame 11. The fabric may-thenextend between the innermost hooks on the arm 17 of the frame 10 and the arm 19 of the frame 11 The fabric will then,

be connected between the innermost hooks of the arm 14 of the frame 10 and the arm 15 of the frame 11. From this point, the fabric may be hooked between the second innermost hooks. of. the arm 15 of the frame 10 and the arm .14 of the frame 11 and subsequently-between the next innermost hooks of each of the arms-andso forth until the fabric is completely looped within the frame as indicated in Figure 2 of the drawings.

When the fabric reaches its destination, either onehalf or the entire length of strip may be quickly removed from the creel by s-winging'the hinged plate 31 from the position shownin Figure 4 of the drawings.

to the position shown in Figure thereof. During this pivotal movement, the points of the hooks 29, are simul- 'tan eously disengaged from thefabric'strip. By pivoting the outermost four hook units on each frame end,

one-half of the fabric willbe disengaged from the hooks. If it is and may be merely unrolled from the. creel.

desired to remove all of the fabric, all of the hooks may 7 4 be disengaged by pivoting the innermost four hook units fromthe-position shown in Figure 4 to the position shown in Figure 5, releasing the remainder of the fabric.

It will be seen that through the use of my creel, the fabric may be removed from the creel in a small fraction of the time normally required for this work and with no subsequent damage to the fabric. The hooks are preferably arranged so. as not to exert an excessive pull upon the fabric duringthe pivotal movement of the hooks as is evidenced froman examination of Figures 4 and 5 of the drawings.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I have described the principles of construction and. operation of my improvement in creels, and while I have endeavored to set forth the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that changes may be. made within the scope of the following claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Iclaimr a l. A creel including an elongated central spacing member and a pair of parallel end frames secured thereto,

each end frame including a series of diverging arms be.

arms includes a plurality of hook bearing hinge plates:

in longitudinal alignment.

3. A creel including'a central spacing member, end

frames, connected to opposite ends of said spacing member, each end frame including an intermediate portionconnected to said spacing member, a pair of upwardly and outwardlydiverging arms, and a pair of downwardly and outwardly diverging arms, a hook unit hingedlyconnected to each of said anrns, the axis of pivot being parallel to the axis of the arms, each hinge unit including an elongated hinge plate and a series of parallel hooks fixedly connected to said plate, and. residing in spacedplanes extending at right angles to said pivot axis, the ends of the hooks being adjacent the pivot point of the hinge plate.

4. The construction described in claim 3 and in which each of said diverging arms supports a plurality of hook units in'longitudinal. alignment.

5. The construction described in claim 3 and in which each of the hook units is attached to the outer surfaceofa diverging arm.

' 6. The construction described in claim 3 and including means on each hinge platewhich maybe engaged by the fingers for pivoting the hinge plate. 7

, 7. The construction described in claim 3 and in which the pointed ends of the hooks are'directed away from the opposite end unit in one pivotal position of-the hinge plate and inclined slightly toward the opposite end frame: in another position of the hinge plate- References Cited in the fileof this patent 

